Johnny's Annabel
by Delirious Silence
Summary: Annabel's life cursed by the number seven and the path it takes her from her brother, a horribly sad story twisted with the fantasies of a hopeless romantic.
1. Johnny's Annabel

There I was; piss-poor broke and begging for help. It's not much of a life, living on the streets, starving, barely making it to the next day. Never made it any better to be a good person, locked away under the guise of a hopeless soul. I couldn't say I really had much just before I got here, a mom that was never home, and a dead-beat dad that died when I was four. My brother and I always looked out for each other; he looked after me more than I looked out for him. You could have said he was perfect; got good grades, honor roll, football, baseball, dedicated, and loving, the whole package. He was top of his class, and never really had any trouble finding himself a girl to hang around every now and again. So much promise, so much talent

When I was very young, watching my dad drink his life away, I came to a realization that turned into a belief so strong; it might as well have been my only religion. Everything bad that happened around me or to me was directly, or indirectly, caused by me. Whenever mom happened to be home, she'd fight with dad, lucky for her he wasn't naturally an angry drunk. In the depth of an argument, one of the few I can remember well, I had hid behind the couch by the window to the backyard, listening, and knowing fully well what they were saying. I saw their reflections in the window; I saw how they moved and how they spoke. The argument began with a question, just one, single question.

"What are you gonna to do 'bout Annabel, Jen? You know she too slow for school, you gonna just leave 'er here?"

"Last thing I'm worried 'bout is how Annabel's gonna fail _kindergarten_, you and I both know that compared to Johnny, she's not gonna amount to much."

"Jen, you sure you wanna do that? We could get ourselves buried up the ass with trouble."

"They got better things to worry about than a piss-poor broke family in the rough part of town. They get 'em goodie-goods in uptown before they get us." She slouched down on the couch, sighing loudly and looked over to dad, "Since when do you defend Annie anyways, Richard?"

The big man grunted after taking a drink from his glass. "Since I became her father." At that moment, it looked as if mom would burst into flames of rage. She stood up in front of dad.

"You never wanted Annie in the beginning! You drank yourself into a god-damn coma the night she was born! You've lost job after job, and you've drank yourself into a stupor ever since, nothing but a useless nobody." She had yelled. She paused, and I distinctly remember seeing them, dad on the lounge chair, and mom standing in front of him. "You know I didn't want Annie either, not after I realized that she'd never be normal, never be like Johnny is." She took the man's drink, downed the rest of it and shuddered. "I work all day. I have to travel two hours to get to and from work I stay in a trashy old apartment, and to only have you waste it on booze." Dad shook his head and flicked his hand, as if he hoped to flick her away like some annoying bug.

"I know she ain't got no future, just like you and me, Jen, but at least give her a chance, don't shut her out yet." He picked up the beer bottle he had sitting on the floor by the lounge chair, popped it open, and chugged down about half of it. Mom sighed, frustrated, and threw her arms in the air.

"Go screw yourself, Richard. I don't want to deal with your irrational crap anymore. I'm telling you now that you ain't ever gonna be proud of that girl, she's too damn stupid."

I watched with disappointment in my heart, Johnny always told me I was smart, that I could be just like him everyday, but if that was true, why would they argue about it so much? My childish mind came up with more reasons to hate myself, to believe I was worthless. I saw my dad shaking his head, chugging the rest of the beer. Not long after mom stormed off, dad passed out.

Johnny walked in not too long after, coming back from school. I ran to him, tears in my eyes, sobbing childishly. I didn't say anything, but I remember he held me until I fell asleep. I woke up that night in bed, Johnny across the room at his desk, doing homework. I sat up and yawned, my eyes puffy from crying so much. I looked at him for awhile, watching how quickly he wrote, and wanted hit myself for being so slow, I didn't want to be dumb. I ended up just smacking myself on the forehead with a loud "thwack". Johnny looked up at me, startled for a moment, then confused.

"Annabel Marie, what the hell are you doing?"

"Mum said I not be normal, never be like you, fast and smart." I smacked myself again on the forehead. "I hope I can hit head, make work right." For my age of four, I spoke well, and understood more than anyone realized, despite the fact that I seemed a little slow. Johnny came at me faster than I could blink, holding my hand that I used to smack myself with away, looking upset.

"Annabel! Stop that now! You don't go and hit yourself, your head works fine!" He kissed the red mark on my forehead and sighed, letting my hand go as I looked up at him, blinking.

"But John-" He shook my head to stop me.

"No buts about it Annie, I won't stand to watch you smack yourself for no good reason." I nodded, and then looked down. I wanted to lighten the mood, so I grinned and looked up at him.

"Can I smack head if I good reason to?" I pointed to my forehead as I said this and was rewarded with a grin from Johnny.

"No Annie, you can't smack your head, even if you had a good reason to." He hugged me and sat me on his lap. I remember that, even though he was already so big and so smart, he was only in sixth grade, he was twelve years old then "Remember what I told ya Annabel?" He waited for my nod, and then continued. "Ma and pa don't know you like I do. You've got the brains, you're smarter than they could ever imagine. You know I'm right, huh?" I nodded again, this time slowly, I wasn't sure if I believed it. "Good, 'cause you are. You start school next month Annie, you'll show 'em, you'll show dad that you aren't worthless, and you'll prove to mom you're a genius in disguise!" He said with a smile, tickling me. I giggled and nodded.

"I show 'em Johnny, I will!"

"Do ya promise me Annabel?" Grinning, he held out his pinky. I grasped it with my little one and nodded. I had no idea that the moment I made this promise, the course of my entire life shifted.


	2. The Number 7

I woke late the next morning, to find Johnny on his bed; face in his hands, his demeanor told me he was upset. I got up and looked at him. "What wrong Johnny?" My question seemed to startle him, and when he looked up at me, his eyes red with tears, I wiped one of the tears away and hugged him, not sure what was wrong. "It be okay Johnny." He hugged me tightly and cried a little harder, shuddering slightly, it got me worried when I hugged him back as tightly as I could with my little arms. He shook his head when he calmed down a bit.

"Annie, I have something important to tell you." His sad eyes frightened me, what could possibly be so bad? I mean, it was my big brother Johnny! Nothing was wrong with him. He placed his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes. 

"Annabel, dad passed away last night."

I blinked, smiling slightly, thinking it was a joke, but the look on his face soon tore it away. For as little as I was, I'm sure most would have expected me not to know what that meant, but I knew, and I had no tears to shed for the man. I wasn't sure what to feel, I didn't feel like something was missing, or that life would be nothing without that man. I just didn't _feel. _For some reason, I looked at the calendar and saw that it was August 7th. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach, and I was filled dread. I wasn't sure why then, but I knew from that moment on, I would grow to hate the number seven. 

I started school in September that year, kindergarten. I knew I was different from everyone else. For starters, I looked the dirtiest, my dull brown hair always in knots and my clothes always way too big for m, but I didn't care. I was the smartest in the class, and even though I was a little slower, I started getting faster. Then I would have never realized that the fact that I was never sure of myself made me seem slow, at the time, I just thought that made me dumb. 

For the most part, I was a pretty happy child, content with the fact that I was smarter, it made me feel like I had actually accomplished something monumental. I was alone on the playgrounds, lost in my own thoughts as I made sand castles or drew pictures into the dirt. Probably set off by my actual _want_ to be and play alone, other children didn't come up to me or ask me for help too often, Sometimes, even the teacher hesitated, like I had had fleas or some sort of disease. Johnny picked me up every day after he got out of school. It was a half hour wait, but I'd be there sitting on the wall, kicking my feet and drawing, waiting for him to come get me. He always took the time to talk to my teacher, smiling approval every time he heard about my grades or my progress, but frowned when he heard I wasn't making any friends.

I had always noticed Johnny wasn't the same after dad died, he tried to hide it under smiles and jokes, so his friends could never tell, but I could. For some reason, it especially showed when I was seven. Before I turned seven, I begged Johnny to say I was still six, that it was my sixth birthday, or that I was eight and it was my eighth, but he wouldn't budge.

"Annabel Marie, you're going to have a seventh birthday, don't be silly about the number seven bit. Now where are those damn candles?" I felt defeated, and handed him the seven candles to put on my cake. He looked at me and frowned. "Annie, tomorrow's your birthday, now you're gonna have fun with the kids in your class and enjoy your birthday." My eyes went wide.

"Kids from school? Johnny!" I whined. "I don't know them, will they come?" I watched as he began to grin.

"Kids like cake, don't they Annie? I heard they like ice cream too." I frowned and was about to argue, but Johnny stuffed a cookie into my mouth and made a "shh" noise. I pouted the rest of the day, but soon forgot about it in the morning, the way most children do.

I was allowed to stay home from school that day, and watched the T.V. most of the day. Johnny came home earlier than normal, saw me in my pajamas on the couch, and put his stuff down.

"Annabel Marie, what're you doin', bein' a bump on a log? Get your lil' butt in that room and get dressed for your birthday." He tried to be stern, but I smiled and he couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, okay Annie. Get in there, get dressed, and then you get to help me bake that cake of yours, got me?" I nodded happily and skipped off to my bedroom. With dad being gone, we were able to afford a little more when it came to clothes, though Johnny always got them a size too big, I liked the skirts and sun dresses I got. I was strange, I wore boy boxers and a t-shirt to bed, and wore skirts and sun dresses during the day, and Johnny called me Were-Girl, a tomboy at night and a little lady during the day. I ran out into the kitchen and grabbed the stepping stool, plopping it down right beside Johnny and stepping onto it. 

"How you gonna make this one, Johnny?" I looked up at him; he had everything out, eggs, milk, flour, vanilla; the works. He put his hand to his chin and made a humming noise, then brought out some chocolate chips and a lemon. "How about a lemon-chocolate cake? I'll put some lemon flavored icing onto of it, if you want." He smiled down at me as I nodded and got a little bowl out, zested the lemon a bit, cut it in half, squeezed some juice over the zest, and put in a spoonful of sugar. He handed the bowl to me, gave me a small spoon, and I started stirring as he went on to make the batter and melt the chocolate down. He poured some milk and a teeny bit of cream cheese with more sugar into the lemon bowl and I stirred it until it was all mixed in. I put the bowl down and looked at it; it looked like yellow milk, but a little thicker. Johnny put the lemon milk into the chocolate one and mixed it in until it was like a dark golden-brown, he then poured that into the flour, salt, a little more sugar, and three eggs, mixed it all up and gave my the spoon.

The smell of lemon and chocolate filled the house as Johnny helped me pick up the house. We chased each other around, I threw a towel at his head and then right after a pair of his own boxers, which landed on his head. He threw off the boxers and tried to put them on my head, but I screamed and ran off into the bedroom, trying to push the door closed, but he stopped me and put the boxers on my head. I screamed and laughed, throwing them off. 

"Johnny, that is gross!" I picked up cup of water and threatened to toss it on him. "I'm gonna get you, Johnny!" He ran off as I chased him into the kitchen. The water spilled a little bit onto the floor in front of me, next thing I knew, I was on the floor, looking up at the ceiling, my head throbbing, and my arm burning. I tried to lean on my arm and heard a snap that scared me. I slipped back down and started to cry as the pain throbbed and doubled every time it had. I couldn't tell what happened, all I remember is trying to stop crying at the hospital, because everyone was staring at me. Mom was there, yelling at Johnny and he was yelling back. My head hurt and I couldn't focus, but I was told not to sleep, so I didn't until they said I could.

I woke up the next morning, Johnny sleeping on the other side of my bed. I looked at my arm, which hurt, but not as bad as it had before. I stared at the heavy white cast on my arm, wondering what exactly had happened and saw that there was writing on it. I looked at it; 'I love you, Annabel. I'm sorry'. I knew that it was from Johnny, he had always that kind of nice hand writing. I got up best I could and woke Johnny up. The minute he sat up, I gave him a hug and he started crying, telling me he was sorry over and over again. It wasn't his fault, I knew he was sorry and he didn't have to tell me. I looked at the calendar, seeing yesterday's date and scowled at it in disgust; I wished I had never turned seven.

It was a few years before anything else too special happened, Johnny was doing great in high school and I was following his lead for the rest of third grade and all of fourth. I started fifth grade the same time Johnny started his senior year, his grades began to slip a little when he skipped school to take care of me, and he did that as much as he could afford. He barely made it to all his football and baseball practices or games. He was a star player, so he was given some slack for missing out on some things. Mom always said he'd move onto college football or baseball, then pro in whichever one he wanted. Johnny said he played baseball for mom and football for dad. He was always better at football, and he found football more exciting than baseball anyways.

I had just turned ten, and Johnny was going to turn eighteen next month, he was like the dad I always wanted, but I knew he was just my big brother. He helped me every night with school work, and he was always so proud of my grades. He always tried to get me to make friends, though I never did. I didn't want anyone to replace him; he was my best friend no matter what. He had girls come over occasionally, they never stayed too long, and there was a new girl for every week. Most of them complained about how much time he put into helping me, and how little he put into being around them, Johnny always told me that they were just good-lookin' faces with no good-lookin' brains to match.

It took him awhile, but he found his good-lookin' face with good lookin' brains to match. Her name was Vicky, and at first, I didn't like her, I was defensive little sister and I felt threatened by another female, other than mom, in the house. She was tall, like Johnny, but a little shorter; she had bright blonde hair and bright, glittering brown eyes. She was typically always happy, always smiling, and she enjoyed doing whatever Johnny enjoyed. It wasn't long before I got the hint that Vicky wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, so I decided to make friends with her. She was incredibly nice, and even offered to help me with school work when Johnny couldn't. Vicky and I became fast friends, and it stayed that way at the house for about five months.

I suppose watching Johnny and Vicky together kicked in the boy-crazy phase of my life. I was never an active force on the play-ground, instead I sat from afar and watched one crush after another, not even having the guts to ever stand next to them in line. I began to right childish romance stories and read romance novels probably a little too old for my age. My boy-crazy phase turned into a hopeless but silent romantic phase, a quick change, and it happened around the time we were introduced to sex-ed in school. All the girls in the class were giggly, but I was the most serious about it. I was curious, not so much physically curious, but mentally curious. I wanted to know everything without even trying any of it. I kept to myself, reading my books, as Johnny and Vicky were either in his room, on the couch, or out on a date. Things were like that everyday for about five months, until Johnny graduated.

Mom reminded Johnny of how perfect he used to be, and as the school year came to a close, he had graduated only second in his class, not first like mom wanted. Mom screamed at him on his graduation night until she was blue in the face. I watched the clock, and she spent an entire two hour period yelling at him, saying he was a stupid piece of crap and useless to her. When she finally left, Vicky comforted him. I watched, not jealous, just worried for Johnny. I liked Vicky, and I knew she'd take care of him in ways I couldn't. I would have been right next to her, helping to comfort Johnny, but I felt that they needed to be alone. When I heard mom drive off, I closed my bedroom door and went to bed, it wasn't until noon that I got up. I walked out into the living room and saw that Vicky had spent the night, which was new, but it didn't bother me. I got some cereal and went back into the room. I read a book until Johnny came into the bedroom. He looked tired, but happy, which was good. I looked up at him and he smiled.

"Thanks Annie, I know you wanted to help me last night." He sat down as I nodded.

"You two looked like you needed to be alone, you know I'm not dumb, Johnny. Sex-ed _was_ earlier this year, you signed the papers yourself." I laughed a bit as he blushed and nodded, then he looked at me with a grin on his face. He knew the kind of books I read, and that I knew what he and Vicky had done together. I looked back up at him and asked "Is she still here Johnny?"

Johnny just grinned and shook his head as he walked out the bedroom door "You're too old for yourself, Annie." He chuckled as he walked off.

Johnny had been looking for a job the whole summer after he graduated, he would usually come home sunburned and disappointed. When I heard him start to unlock the door, I expected him more burned than the day before and start asking for the Aloe-Vera. This time, however, he was more white that a ghost. I got up, worried, and walked up to him.

"Johnny, are you okay…?" I grabbed his arm and shook him a bit. He looked down at me dazed and nodded. I sighed in relief, then looked him over, completely puzzled. All of a sudden, like a light switched on in his head, he jumped up and hollered, picked me up and squeezed me.

"Annie, Annie, Annie! Oh, this is great! Is she here yet? Did she tell you?"

I blinked, caught off guard and shaken a bit, then looked at him with my eyebrow raised.

"Who's going to be here to tell me what?" Johnny stopped hopping around in circles and looked at me, with one of the biggest grins I had ever seen.

"Vicky's pregnant, Annie! You're goin' to be Auntie Annie and I'm-" He paused for a minute, as if realizing this for the first time. "Gonna be a _dad_!"

After the initial shock, life in the house settled into a slightly new routine, with Vicky coming over every day, and Johnny coming home after job hunting, then later, after work. He was the happiest man alive; everyday he'd give Vicky a kiss, hug her, and tell her he loved her. They looked like the perfect couple, and I often found myself using their personalities in my short stories. It was that way until late July when Vicky was just starting to show her pregnancy, that she started to seem distant. Naturally, Johnny wasn't going to see it, but it made me worry. In my mind, it was something horribly wrong, something that caused disaster for a perfect couple in any story, so I decided to be the intervening force to stop it.

At first, I almost studied Vicky, her attitude, her cravings, her hunger, the way she walked, talked, and any other mannerism that may have changed. Nothing seemed to have changed at first, but then suddenly I noticed she wasn't hungry as much anymore didn't complain about a sore back, and that he stomach had gotten a tad smaller, instead of larger. I nearly panicked at the thoughts that ran across my head, but instead, I talked to Vicky. I decided that I should do it before Johnny came home from work, so I sat next to her on the couch.

"Could I ask you a question, Vicky?" I smiled a bit and she nodded.

"Of course you can Annabel" She laughed slightly, and in my mind, it sounded nervous. "I mean, I'm practically your sister now, right?" She shifted her weight over and faced me. I nodded, unsure of how to start.

"Yeah, you are, so I worry about you too, just like I do Johnny. Of course I worry about him more, and that's why I want to know why your stomach is smaller, not bigger. Or is it just me?" There was no other way to ask about it, so I decided to be blunt. If there had been any other way to ask, I'm sure I didn't quite have the vocabulary for it at that point. She looked at me, taken aback by my bluntness and looked at me a moment, seeming to carefully choose her words.

"I…had to make a decision, Annie. It wasn't an easy one, but I had to do it. I couldn't have this baby Annie, I'm too young, and I was scared…" As she struggled to find the right words, I gaped, I couldn't believe it. At first I questioned my level of understanding, but then I knew. How could she possibly do such a terrible thing? I stood up and looked at her, probably as torn apart and confused as Johnny was when he found out.

"You _aborted_ Johnny's baby?" She looked at me wide-eyed with a guilt ridden face and looked down. "When did you do it?" I asked, with demand, holding back tears. She looked to the side, and took in a deep breath before she said anything. 

"Last Friday."

I blinked, thinking back on the days and went wide eyed. I thought back for a moment, and counted back from today. That was the seventh! She looked at my reaction. "I couldn't do that for Johnny, I know he wanted the baby, but I couldn't do it, I was so scared. Annie, you're so young, you wouldn't understand…" I looked at her in the eyes.

"Wouldn't understand? Vicky you **killed **Johnny's baby, _your _baby. I'm pretty sure that I can understand _murder_!" I shook my head, looking at the ground, not wanting to face her, She instantly turned into the most horrid person I had ever known. I couldn't believe it, I was so angry, so upset -for Johnny! I ran out the front door and down the street, crying my frustration. I sat down on a random curb and sat there until I stopped crying. I sighed and looked at the ground for awhile, I stared absently, unaware of everything, until I finally snapped back into reality, noticing the shadows were in different places than before. I got up, knowing Johnny would have been home for awhile. I couldn't bear to even imagine his grief, the look of anguish on his face, but I had to go back home.

I got home, and Vicky had disappeared, Johnny was at the table, waiting for me. His eyes were red from old tears as he looked at me enter the room. I didn't know what to do, so I stood by a chair at the table, looking back at him. It was only a second before he sighed.

"Annabel, you know me better than anyone in this entire world, and before today, you had been the only one to ever see me cry. You're the one girl in my life who hasn't broken my heart, and hasn't left my side, not even for one minute. You know what that's called?"

I sat down on a chair and shook my head, I was a little confused, and didn't really want to speak. He nodded, looked down at the table, then back up to me.

"Annabel Marie, that's called family, a real family. You may be my sister, but you're my daughter too, the only one I'll have in my life. If you weren't always there, I'd be gone a long time ago." He stood up and walked over to me. "I want from you what any real father wants to see his daughter do, Annie. Grow up, get yourself an education, fall in love, and start yourself a family you can call your own. I'll be there for you every step, one way or another. That's what I'll do for you as your big brother, and the father you always deserved."

It had been a year since Vicky disappeared; Johnny didn't deserve to be treated like that about his baby, and ever since then, he had been fighting with mom more and more, whenever she was home, they'd fight about something. From what would be for dinner back to how dumb I was. This time, I knew my mom was just fighting for the sake of fighting, she couldn't possibly know whether or not I was dumb, she wasn't ever home enough to see my grades, she didn't even care enough to ask. She left one night after a big argument with Johnny. I knew, subconsciously, that the day was still March 7th, and I had taken every precaution to keep Johnny from harm, it was my monthly routine. It didn't cross my mind once that the number seven would affect my mom, too.

She walked out and never came back. The next morning cops were at our door, apologizing for our loss. I was 12, it was the middle of my seventh grade year, I had been lucky enough not to have anything bad happen so far, but I think I almost expected it to be mom, though I never knew why. I had fought with Johnny to not make me enter the seventh grade, I even fought with mom about it, I tried so hard, but to no avail. Then, before I could even realize anything, the number seven had taken its toll on my life again, this time it took my mother along with it. CPS took me away from Johnny at seven in the morning; I was stuck in the building until they took me away to a foster care home at seven that night. I cried so hard, I kept the others in the room up, but I didn't care, I wasn't aware of anything but the fact that I should not be there. I never remember being so sad before, I felt the loss of my brother, like he had died; being apart from him was more than I could bear, with no hope of seeing him again soon. I couldn't cry for my mother, though I tried, she gave me life, and though she hated me, I loved her. I couldn't cry for her, and I cursed myself for it.

Johnny jumped through all the hoops, filled out all the paper work, paid all the fines and fees to get me back. When he did, I hardly recognized him; he was thin, not as muscular as he was before, grew a goatee and looked haggard. It didn't matter to me, as long as he was in my life still. I felt selfish, but I just wanted to stay with my brother, I couldn't ever be by myself. I managed to scrape by seventh grade with a three point five grade point average, and my grades were poor to begin with in eighth grade. The last three months of school didn't look promising. Though I did extraordinarily well on mid-terms, it only brought my grades up to D's. 

Johnny worked early in the morning and got home just before I did from school, never letting on how bone tired he really was when he stayed up late with me. He made sure that all my school work was done and that I understood all of the material. At the end of the year, I received three awards at promotion; most improved, honor roll, and top of my eighth grade class. Johnny asked for the day off to support me at the Promotion, on May 7th. I was a nervous wreck all day, I wanted Johnny to be careful, and I told him to. He had said he would, but that doesn't mean he actually did take care and watch out for himself. He had just got back from working a double, and was even still in his work clothes. When he stood up to applaud when I walked, he collapsed onto the floor. I more than panicked, I jumped from the stage and to his side, yelling, frightened. He was rushed to the hospital, but when the doctor talked to me, she said he'd be okay if he got some sleep, he didn't sleep enough to sustain the amount of work he did. 

I made him take an early vacation from work to get his rest in, and he did, but I wish he could quit all-together. This wasn't what he wanted to do, he had always wanted to be a professional chef, cooking gourmet meals and desserts, and he had the talent for it. Instead of cooking fine foods, however, Johnny wasted his life away at a concrete company, laying down heavy blocks, working overtime and getting hurt on an almost daily basis.

In the next two years, I saw Johnny's health wither away before my eyes; he got thinner and thinner, his eyes deep-set with dark circles under them. He slept only a little more than he had before, but I could see he was tired now, he didn't even have the energy to hide it. Just before I began high school, I was tested into the gifted program, and from there, I skipped ninth grade, finished tenth grade, and skipped my junior year, and advanced to my senior year. I graduated top of my class, the youngest in the class, with an achievement of having finished high school in two years. I received scholarships and invitations to go to universities near and far, across the country. Johnny was so proud, he told me he bragged about me all the time at work, called me his daughter.

I was deciding which university I'd like while I was still in high school, and when I decided I wanted to go to Yale University, my brother found a job there. He quit his old job when I graduated, and moved to Connecticut when I did. I had a full-ride scholarship, but I turned down the opportunity to stay in the dorms, and stayed in a comfortable two-bedroom condo with Johnny, using the remaining scholarship money towards more classes to quicken my pace to a Masters in Graphic design. I was always so sure I wanted to major in graphic design, with a minor in architecture. I loved building and creating the unusual, making things spring to life on paper with only a pencil. By the time I turned twenty-one, I had finished a four-year course in three and a half years. The ceremony to celebrate wasn't for another four months, so I went job searching and received a job at an advertising company, as an assistant advertisement design executive. The pay was beyond amazing, the work was fun, and the hours were easy; I could work from home if I wanted.

Though the people were nice and talked to me often, I still didn't actively socialize, I liked work too much. With how much I was paid, we were able to afford Johnny quitting his job by the end of June. When the day finally came to receive my Masters, I could hardly contain how excited I was. I had bought my first nice outfit for the occasion, bought new make up, and curled my hair with my new curling iron. But I couldn't help this aching feeling I had in the pit of my stomach. To this day, I curse myself for never checking the calendar.

I had a horrible feeling that something was going to happen to Johnny if I left for the ceremony. He urged me to go, saying he'd be there soon after. So I sat there in the great hall, waiting, trying to see if he'd come through the doors and make an entrance, like he used to do. Some guy sat next to me suddenly, probably getting away from the annoying girl in the back, and he began to stare. I was too worried and on edge to look at him, and when my name was called to go up, and the polite applause roared, my heart nearly fell to my stomach. I didn't see Johnny, not once, not even when I shook a whole bunch of hands waiting in line after I received my certificate. I panicked, I looked around, unsure of what to do. I knew instantly that something was very, very wrong. I looked at the door and ran out the building, across the street, into my car, and sped my way back to our condo. 

When I walked in, I saw Johnny sprawled out on the kitchen floor, car keys in hand, and a nice, clean tux. He had just been leaving, so it couldn't have been that long ago. I searched for a pulse and couldn't find one. I called 9-1-1 and gave Johnny CPR; I didn't know what else to do. My eyes blurred with tears, I couldn't tell if it was working, so I kept on trying, angrily wiping the tears away. The ambulance came, and I didn't want to leave his side, they had to shove me away, and I still tried to push past them, screaming, sobbing. I looked up at the calendar just as they announced the time of death. Seven O'clock P.M., on the seventh day of the seventh month. My eyes went wide, though I couldn't see past them anymore. They carried Johnny away, and as they drove off, there was no siren to be heard, no life to save. He died when he was twenty-nine, he had been too young.


	3. Homeless

I can't remember how long I stayed crumpled on the floor. I felt so numb, I didn't cry for most of it. When I realized it was morning, I laid back on the floor, exactly where Johnny had fallen. The carpet smelled like his cologne, and I finally began to cry again, uncertain, afraid, and confused. I knew days had gone by and I was starving, but I didn't care. All my dreams had died with Johnny, and I had no idea where to start now. Everything I had known was gone, and my world seemed like it would end. I stayed in the condo, barely living, not sleeping much. Eventually, I became conscious of the world, and realized it was Johnny's memorial, though I hardly even remembered putting it together. I dressed the best I could and even wore Johnny's cologne. I was the only one there, besides the pastor, who spoke of grief and sorrow. He read from the bible, he spoke of how life moves in a cycle, without death, there would be no life, and though he was young, he was with God now.

I stared at the ceiling as the pastor spoke, cursing at God for Johnny, though I knew he would never do such a thing. I hated God, he made my life a hell, and wasn't the number of the lord supposed to be seven-hundred and seven? Why would he kill Johnny at seven o'clock P.M., on the seventh of July? It was torture, I hated the number seven, and I hated God for having created it. I had never hated anything in my life, except the number seven, I never even knew I could hate, but I did. I got home that night and there was a notice that told me to pay the rent. I threw it aside and walked in, careful never to step on that one area of the carpet. I had work, but I was given an early vacation due to Johnny's death. I'd have to go back to work in two weeks. I wrote a check and paid the rent and went to bed.

I was lying on the carpet, when I randomly decided to go into the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror. When I did, I nearly screamed. I looked like a ghost, like _Johnny's_ ghost, with the exception of my long hair and more feminine face. I had always been proud of my long hair, and Johnny said I should never cut it, just to see how long it could get. It was incredibly long, down by my waist. I saw scissors, and Johnny's razor. I cut my hair to be as short as his was, which wasn't too short. His hair was wavier than mine was, so my cut seemed longer. My hair was thick, and reached about two inches below my ear and it was kind of messy. It made me look surprisingly less like Johnny, my face was rounder than his was, my eyes more round too, a smaller nose, less defined chin, and no line identifying a cleft. My head felt lighter as I cleaned the mess my hair had made on the floor.

I quit work, Johnny had been there too many times, and the pity from my co-workers made it worse. I didn't really feel motivated to do anything with my life, and soon couldn't afford food and rent. I was evicted, so I gathered the few things I wanted to keep, we didn't have much furniture anyways, only two beds and not much for dishes or clothes. I took the few clothes I had in a back pack, Johnny's cologne, a picture of him, a binder full of blank paper and documents, and walked out onto the streets. It wasn't too long before I got hungry, and I had no idea what else to do, so I drew sketch portraits for random people walking down the street.

I had talent, but no one seemed to care. There was one man who stood by where I'd be sketching every other day or so, just looking at me, trying to recognize me or something. He was beautiful, and though I know that isn't the right word for a man, he was. I don't think I ever made a habit at looking at people, at anyone but Johnny, but I looked at this man, as he looked at me. On one of my last few sheets of paper, I drew a collage of the way he stood, sat, and looked one way or another, because it was etched into my memory, with no way out. At one time or another, he looked like he'd approach me, then swerved off and walked down the street. I wanted to talk to him too, but he I didn't blame him. I can see why he wouldn't want to waste his time on a homeless bum.

I kept the sketch to myself, the only one I kept, and put it next to Johnny's picture. I stared at the two of them, and compared every detail. My Johnny was taller, but not by much, had a gold tint to his brown hair, not a red one like the stranger did, and a lighter shade of blue eyes. The stranger had a less rounded face than Johnny's; his features were more defined, though he had only a hint of cleft on his chin. His nose wasn't too big or too large, it was smaller than Johnny's, but it fit his face perfectly. The man's hair was straighter that mine, which had a slight wave to it, but was just as long as Johnny's had looked with curled hair. He looked fit, a slightly bigger build than Johnny when he was in high school, he looked confident, but confused. This, however, was all from memory, because Johnny's picture was black and white, and the stranger's was a sketch. I'm not sure why, but I'd take the stranger's sketch with Johnny's ashes in my arms and hold it as I fell asleep.

I hung around a Barnes & Nobles, holding a cup, asking for change, both coins and something to come at me with such force, I either died or suddenly changed and got a life back. Also in the binder, alongside Johnny's picture, were both of our important documents, a resume of mine, birth certificates and social security cards, all our awards from school, my diploma, my masters, and the report cards we had kept. I always kept Johnny's urn of ashes by my side, never in the back pack. If I needed guidance about anything in particular, I'd send a sort of prayer to Johnny. He was my angel in life, so I knew he was definitely my angel now. I asked him to help me everyday, to get through each day, and to get out of this, I knew I was wasting the best years of my life away, but I didn't know what else to do, where to go. I needed someone, I needed Johnny.

At some point, I decided to take the card board out of one side of my binder and write "I'm hungry: please help". The stranger looked at me then, me with my sign, looking so sad. I don't think I've ever seen eyes so sad, but what could make him so sad? It looked, again, as if he'd approach me, but he was stopped by a rather short, very blonde little woman coming from the Barnes & Nobles. He looked surprised, then miserable as she took his arm. She looked over to me for a minute, snarled in disgust, threw a twenty dollar bill at me, and pulled him away. As they walked together, I felt my heart sink, I wanted to stop them, but I didn't know what to say, or even know if I could speak, I hadn't spoken in so long. I took the bill and held it in my pocket, curled my knees up to my chest, rest my head on top of them, and held the sign on my head, silently crying to myself.

It was hard before, and I knew it was only going to get harder, but how could I be motivated now? I know that just by looking at me, he probably thought I had nothing to offer the world; that I shamelessly wasted my life away for drugs, or gambling, or alcohol. But I was a good person, too! I had a brilliant mind and potential… It was locked away under this guise of a hopeless soul.


	4. Johnny

"_Well Johnny, you've done it again m'boy. Congratulations!" A smile that resembled mine came from the man I loved, and proudly called my father. I had just announced my engagement, which was odd; I didn't expect to have done anything. Melissa wasn't the kind of woman I usually liked, but she was a rich and spoiled Yale graduate who cheated her way through with money. She had been pampered her whole life, but really just as dull as a pebble. My family was born in rags and came into the world of riches when I was young; I was always told that the only way to get what you want out of life is through hard work. My family was "new money", most families thought we were undeserving of our money and wouldn't have it for too much longer._

_My life could've been said to be perfect, my parents loved each other dearly, never fought, never yelled, and always encouraged each other. They were always the 'Ethan and Ellen' combo, when someone asked for one; they got both no matter what. My parents had been working hard till their bones hurt, smiling every step of the way, telling me that all this work was for me, and my future. They helped me every step of the way, and I worked hard to get where I am as a Yale graduate. I had always believed in fate, the strength in faith, and I must admit, I have always been pretty superstitious._

_I had graduated only a month ago from Yale University, I had been dating Melissa for only a few weeks by that time, and I told myself again and again that I should cut it off, end it, and God help me, I never did. To get away from Melissa for graduation, I sat next to a quiet girl and without meaning to, I found myself staring. I was very grateful when I caught myself; she was too distracted to notice anything, even when she received her Masters. I found myself applauding the loudest when she absently took it into her hand, shook a hand, and started to walk slowly back around, staring at the door as if expecting some amazing, unexplainable thing to come waltzing into the room. Though I didn't know her, I felt a knot of worry in my stomach for her well-being when she had suddenly ran off, out of the building. Within twenty or so minutes, we all heard sirens roaring down the street as the ceremony ended. Melissa walked over to me, with her parents at her side. _

"_Oh Johnny baby," She squeaked, "This is Momma Sam and Poppa Dean"_

_I looked over, obviously distracted, shook her father's hand and absently smiled at her mother, trying not to be rude to the obviously wealthy couple. "Oh, right. Hello. Melissa, I have to go speak to my parents." I said this as I started in their direction, but Melissa took my arm._

"_Well then Honey Bunny, let's go see 'em!"_

_I must admit, it took me only a month of not seeing that quiet girl again to put her at the back of my mind. I suppose I occasionally thought about her, I wandered what it was that made her so distracted and run off, on what should have been a very happy day. Most of the time, I forgot Melissa was still with me and I reminded myself how lucky I was not to be living with her yet. It was another month before I thought of that girl again, and I remembered something that I wanted to smack myself over the head for; her name. When we graduated, they said her name, but what was it? I couldn't remember for the life of me, and I felt an urge to go back to Yale to find out, but I shook my head, not wanting to answer to Melissa's fury for being home late. Why couldn't I have paid attention to her name, at least?_

_It hadn't been a long time till I thought about her again. I was actually thinking about her as I walked down the street, passing someone who did sketch portraits for money, obviously homeless. I didn't ask the person for one, I just leaned against a bench across from where the person sat. I suppose I made a habit of looking at people, I always found the diversity in features amusing, and I compared and examined almost subconsciously. I don't think, however, that I had, even once, paid attention to someone who lived on the streets. The person looked young, but tired, depressed, and worn down. I wonder what could have happened to the person? They didn't seem scarred or battered down by drugs or depressed from a fermented drink, but from life. It was almost as if life had been that person's downfall, nothing had gone right, and tragedy could be seen behind those eyes, they were so sad._

_I then took notice to the deep shade of green the person's eyes held, even when caught in the sunlight. They glittered, and seemed wise, which made the person look older than they probably were. I looked for a moment longer and took into account that the person was a woman, and when I noticed this, something felt strange. Her eyes were round, she had a smaller nose, but it wasn't pointed, full but dry and cracked lips, and her chin complemented her soft, rounded facial structure. She was covered in dirt and grime, wore baggy, dirty clothes that were probably never hers to begin with, and shorter hair, though not extraordinarily short, but short nonetheless. Her hair was a darker golden brown, like deep honey, and thick. She was very thin, very pale, but she was gorgeous, regardless. I felt like I should know her, help her, my hand twitched with uneasiness, and I got up to talk to her, but something told me that right now wasn't the right time, so I turned, and walked away._

_I came back a couple days later and watched her sketch, I watched her movements, the way she made each and every mark carefully, specifically displaying only the best features in a person, as if that was all she saw. At one point, a mother with a baby sat at a café table across the street, and without being asked, the girl began to sketch away, she held up the paper on the binder, I couldn't see what she was doing. Within a few minutes, she got up and examined the paper in the light and I was caught breathless. The image was beyond remarkable, it captured the mother with a baby in her arms, and the mother looked happy, but protective as she smiled over the child in her arms. Her fingers gently placed on the baby's forehead, looking as if it would move at any moment and ease the child to sleep. The artist sighed, as if disappointed, stood up, and walked over to the mother across the street, leaving the sketch on the table, and walked back. The woman sat back down, hugged her knees, and hid her face. I wanted to help, but again, something told me that now was not a good time, so I left._

_She eventually ran out of paper and sat at the corner, not moving, as if willing to die. She held a cup out for change, and received no more than pennies and nickels. I began to notice her hair was growing longer as time went on, and her eyes more sad. I couldn't bear to watch her be so miserable, I wanted to help her. I didn't go back to that Barnes & Nobles for quite awhile, I felt too guilty. Where the girl was soon slipped my mind, and not long after it did, Melissa decided she wanted to read a book. God have mercy on any book she bought, it ended it up unread and covered in dust in her father's vast personal library, such a shame. I remembered, as I waited outside the Barnes & Nobles, how I used to read my childhood away, lost in a steamy romance. I could never help but become a hopeless romantic. I was obsessed with love, I wanted to write about my own experience with love, to read more and understand it when they say "I love you" in the novels. Sadly, I had never been in love. I had loved, and did not question my capability to love, but had never been in love._

_I stared blankly, lost in my thoughts, and then saw her again. In an instant, I knew I loved the woman, though she didn't know me, or that she had ever once seen me. I loved her, and had no idea why. I felt trapped, how could I ever explain this to Melissa? I looked at the poor woman, writing across the cardboard torn from a binder. She wrote "I'm Hungry, Please help". I felt an utter anguish, like the girl's final wall had been torn down, she looked so sad when she glanced my way. My heart jumped as she caught my eye, I stared into her beautiful green eyes, almost lost, my own eyes betraying my inner feelings. The woman looked confused, and then turned her attention to Melissa, who was walking out of the bookstore. She took my arm and looked on at the woman I loved with complete disgust. I felt almost instant anger, but I was too trapped to even seem angry. Melissa threw a twenty dollar bill at the poor woman and tugged me along with her, down the street and back to the car._

_The car ride was silent; I drove faster than usual, and less attentively. I felt like I would go insane if I had to sit next to Melissa one more moment. With a sick twist of fate, my prayers were answered; a truck had backed out too fast, and when I noticed, it was too late to avoid it, so I slammed on the brakes and the Bentley went head first into the back of the truck. I looked at Melissa, she was dazed, but not hurt, she got out from underneath the airbag and walked out of the car, a little dizzy. I sighed to myself and got out of the car, glancing at the side view mirror as I sat up, my face was cut up, but I looked fine, I felt fine. I looked around, as if high from the impact, unsure of what to do or what to say. I heard slurred voices and muffled yells, but I didn't care. The only thing on my mind was the woman._

_I wiped away the blood from my forehead with the back of my hand, glanced at Melissa, who was yelling at her father to fix the accident, stared at the ground a moment, and ran. I ran so hard, I forgot to breathe, but I ran onto the sidewalk, into the masses walking to and from anywhere. I knew I had knocked a few people over, but I didn't care, I wanted to get to her, help her, I knew she had a future still, and I was going to give it to her, any way I could. I ran to the bookstore, and she was there, shuddering, crying. Without hesitation, I took her into my arms and held her. There was no fight, no argument, she welcomed my embrace and held onto me tightly. She sobbed, and for an instant, I could have sworn she had said "Oh Johnny, I am so terrible." I blinked and dismissed it, thinking it was my imagination._

_It felt like forever before we let go of each other. She looked at me and blinked away the last tears, and as her vision cleared, she gasped and covered her mouth. I didn't know what else to say, so I wiped the hair from her face._

"_What's wrong?" I asked as I stared into her eyes, I didn't know why she seemed so surprised, like she had made a mistake. She shook her head, smiled politely, and spoke in a harsh, unused voice._

"_I had thought you were my brother, I thought that was why you hugged me." She cleared her throat and sighed, still looking at me. She looked over my face, and something seemed to click in her memory. She pulled out a slight crumpled piece of sketch paper and showed it to me. My eyes went wide as I realized that I was looking at a photograph-like sketch of me, sitting on the park bench across from the woman. I was looking away, at the light post, and it was in the evening. The lighting and the detail was beyond incredible. I looked from the picture to her, caught speechless; she merely nodded. "You're my stranger, the one who has been watching me. I watched you too, and I know this is very strange, but I drew a picture of you, just in case you disappeared."_

_My heart melted in my chest, and became a hot liquid that poured down my arms. I took her hand and helped her up, she almost seemed afraid of the world, and stood close by me. She looked around, then back at me, a little fear in her beautiful eyes._

"_What are you doing?" She asked quietly, unsure of herself. I could tell she had never been a social person, and she had a quiet aura about her. I looked down at her and took her hand in mine._

"_I'm taking you home." Before she could say anything else I called my father and asked him to take me home from the bookstore._


	5. Annabel's Stranger

The beautiful stranger used his cell phone and called his father. Even thinking about the meaning of the word father left a bad taste in my mouth. Though Johnny had always been like a perfect father, the little memories of my actual father filled my mind. I looked away from m own blank stare and looked at my stranger. The man was cut up, like he had been in a fight, but I was glad to see no real damage to his being. I looked at him carefully then, knowing this could be the only time I'd ever see him up close. He was lightly tanned, and had a bigger build that I had originally believed. He was the most gorgeous man I had ever seen, I was captivated by him, and began to wonder how old he was, what he did, and _who_ he was. I suddenly wanted to smack myself, why don't I just ask? I looked up at my stranger and noticed he had been looking at me the whole time. I looked away just as I asked.

"What's your name?" I was caught off guard by the sound of two voices, one was my own, and the other was his. He started to speak just as I did, and then remained quiet so I could answer first, so I decided to shake his hand.

"I'm Annabel Millson." My politeness was rewarded with a beautiful smile as he shook my hand as well.

"I'm Johnson Vega, pleasure to meet you, Annabel." The name rang a bell, but I wasn't sure exactly why, I looked him over, trying to figure out why it had, but I didn't quite recognize his face. A well-polished black Cadillac drove up, presumably his father. I thought about his name silently to myself, as I watched Johnson get my things from by the wall.

"Hey pops, this is Annabel Millson." He looked over to me, "Annabel, this is Ethan, my dad." I smiled politely and nodded slightly, unsure of what to say. I peered into the nice car and marveled at how beautiful it was, I had never been so close to something like it. Johnson opened the door for me after he handed me my things, I looked in nervously and sat down on the squeaky leather seats. Johnson closed the door and got in on the passenger side and exchanged a glance that I couldn't interpret and his dad started the car.

The first half of the car ride was quiet, with the occasional glance from Ethan in the rear view mirror or Johnson from the side view mirror. I felt like I was in the spotlight, I knew I was a stranger to them, and this was a completely different situation that I wasn't even sure I was comfortable with. When we got into the better side of town, I realized I was no longer in an area I recognized and could find my way out of. I felt an uneasiness when we passed Berkley Lane, the last street I vaguely knew, and I looked away to the other side of the car. Johnson noticed my change in posture and how uncomfortable I looked.

"You've never been to this side of town, Annabel?" He asked, looking back a little to look at me. I shook my head and wanted to hug my knees, but I didn't want to put my feet on the seats and chance a fit over getting them dirty. I felt so small with all the enormous houses around. Ethan looked over at Johnson, with a side glance at me.

"Mel's been squeaking 'bout some car wreck, what did you do to the poor girl this time?" He said with a slight chuckle. The younger man shook his head, half smiling.

"A damn truck backed up too fast, he didn't see on-coming traffic on the main road. The poor Bentley…" Ethan gave Johnson a surprised looked, and slight look of frustration.

"The Bentley? Johnny, you took the _Bentley?" _He sighed and shook his head as he took a turn to the left, onto Parry Lane. I didn't think it was possible, but the houses on Parry were larger, some of them were gated and expanded several hundred acres in property. Some were decorated with large pools and outdoor tennis courts, others with large drive ways, putting up their cars or motorcycles up for show. The lawns were all unique, with a different flair of style. Some were oriental, other were classical with fountains and flower beds. Either way, my mind was blown, I couldn't understand how somebody could possibly have so much money, did these people even work?

Ethan gave me another look, but this time it was more searching, like lookin for something to help recognize me, then suddenly he asked.

"Were you the quiet girl that Johnson here sat next to at Yale graduation?"

I blinked, unsure of how to respond. Now that I thought about it, Johnson did look familiar. I looked at the young man and then suddenly recognized him as the guy that was staring at me before I ran off. I looked at Ethan and nodded, then he laughed a deep, hearty laugh, nudging Johnson a bit as he did. The young man shook his head, and I was left completely confused the rest of the ride. We arrived, and Ethan only stopped at the gate, putting the car in park. Ethan turned in his seat to face me.

"Be careful of Johnny's girl Mel" He took a sidelong glance at Johnson, "And it was nice meeting you, Annabel." He held out his hand for me to shake.

"Nice to meet you as well, Ethan" I said, trying to be as polite as I could, and shook his hand. I looked up at my stranger and realized Ethan had just called him Johnny. Was this a coincidence? He opened the door for me and I got out slowly, deep in thought.

"Bye pops, thanks for the ride here." He shut the door and waved through the window, but the older man rolled down the window.

"Don't you let Mel ruin your new friend's pretty little face, ya hear? Don't want nothing bad to happen cause Mel can't take another female being in the house." He paused and looked at me one more time, then back to my stranger. "You be careful, too."

"Don't have to worry about that, she's staying at her own place for the next week or so, she's going to be too busy." He frowned, like something he had said bothered him, and his dad backed out, turned, and drove off down the rest of Parry Lane. I looked up at my stranger, and wondered about the fact that he was called Johnny. Did my angel send him to me? Could I call him Johnny, too? I wasn't sure if I wanted to call him Johnny, afraid it might erase my memories of my Johnny. I called my self irrational and mentally smacked my own forehead, knowing that would never happen, I could never forget my Johnny, but what of this new Johnny? I snapped out of my own thoughts and realized the new Johnny was looking back at me now.

"You alright, Annabel?" he asked as he placed a gently hand on my shoulder, starting to walk down the driveway to the huge house. I nodded, and decided to ask him something.

"Could I call you Johnny, too?" The young man was caught off guard, but smiled.

"If I can call you by your nickname, too"

"It's Annie."

"Then yes, Annie, you can." He smiled as he looked me over a bit, "Would you like to get cleaned up? Mel may have some clothes that will fit you. She's just as thin, but she's pretty short, maybe she left something useful behind." I noticed that he sounded a little annoyed as he spoke about her, but wasn't he going to marry this Mel? Was she that girl that threw money at me before?

"That would be nice… What's the date, if I may ask?"

"Hmm… today is January 26th. How long have you been out in the streets?" I paused, and counted the months and days.

"Four months and nine days." We arrived at the door and Johnny put in the house key and pressed a code on the keypad attached to the door handle. The door beeped and unlocked, and Johnny guided me in, closing the door behind us. The house was beautiful, cherry wood floors, a large staircase, beautiful red suede furniture, beautifully designed carpets, and tall, deep green walls. I noticed there was a cup or two on the tables as Johnny walked my upstairs, then I looked up and gasped. Johnny looked worried at first, then smiled as I admired the large crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. I slowly continued up the stairs behind Johnny, eventually prying my eyes away from the glittering work of art. He led me into a large room painted a medium red, decorated with a light brown suede lounge chair, mica lamps shades over the lights, black and white pictures, patterned walkway carpet, and a queen-sized bed with off-white sheets.

"This is a beautiful house, Johnny." I touched the sheets on the bed, they were as soft as silk, but weren't. I looked over and noticed a little hallway led to a closet and the bathroom door was to the right of the entrance.

"Thanks Annie" He smiled, "the bathroom is to your right, and the walk-in is just down that little hall. I'll go get you whatever clothes Mel may have left here and let you pick what you'd like to wear. I also think that Mel left some of her other things in the bathroom here." He opened the door and peered in. "There are towels for you in there." I nodded and smiled politely, all of the sudden feeling dirty and sweaty.

Johnny walked off and I put my things on the ground, by the bed, slowly walking into the bathroom and looking in, and my mouth dropped to the floor. The bathroom was huge, with marble counters and floors, two bowl-like sinks, medium blue painted walls decorated with a few small pictures, an enormous bath tub, and a separate shower, with another two doors to the left. One door was thinner than the other, and I slowly opened it, and noticed it was filled with bath salts, soaps, body sponges, shampoos, conditioners, hair products, and a curling iron. I closed the door and opened the other one, and saw that it was a very tiny toilet room. I looked over the lone shower and looked in. The floor slanted inward toward a drain very slightly and was raised a little higher than the ground, made of a dark tile that wasn't smooth, to prevent slipping. I looked over into the bath tub, and blinked in surprise. It was deeper than I thought it was, and had little holes in the sides like Jacuzzi.

I walked back into the bedroom, looking over the pictures on the walls and traced my finger along the wall underneath it, heading down the small hallway. The hallway opened into a little room, with shelves and slots with hanger racks for clothes. The closet was enormous, but there was nothing but a pair of black Mary Jane's and wood jewelry box on the shelf. I looked over the outside of the box, it looked very plain. I traced my fingers on the outside of it and felt that it wasn't polished, just sanded down very well. I carefully opened it and saw that there was nothing in it, but the inside seemed to show some age. I closed it quietly and walked back out of the closet and hallway, into the main part of the room. Johnny was there, laying out a few shirts, a skirt, and some pants. He looked up, a little surprised.

"Oh, I though you were already in there, the door was mostly closed." He looked over the clothes he put down on the bed. "I know there isn't much, but we'll talk clothes and such when you're all cleaned up. If you need anything, just let me know." He lingered a little longer, and decided to pull himself away, closing the door behind him. I sighed and looked over the clothes he had brought me. The skirt was nice, very dark green, ruffled, and adorned with a little gold chain. The shirts were all nice, varying in length and color. The jeans looked small, so I didn't bother. I looked at the skirt, and the simple off-white tank top across from it. The tank top had a crumpled look with it that nicely went with the ruffles in the skirt. It was a little long as I held it up to me. If Mel was as short as they made her sound, then she probably wore the shirt as a short dress. I looked around, hoping he may have brought any undergarments, but it didn't appear he had. I decided to try my luck in the bureau drawers. The first one I opened had nothing, but the second had a new set, still on the hangar and still tagged.

I took what I wanted and went into the bathroom. I shrugged off the big jacket I wore, it was grimy, but the big shirt and pants I wore under looked cleaner. I looked up, and was almost caught off guard to myself in the mirror. I looked at my reflection for a long time, I hardly recognized myself. My hair had grown quite a bit since I had cut it, it was already to my shoulders, but it was messy and looked a little shorter. I looked dirty, and worn out. I had never slept much after I left the condo, and it showed. When I looked at how tired I was, I soon began to feel tired.

I sighed to myself and closed the bathroom door and took a towel from the shelf above the bathtub. I placed the towel on the counter in front of me and got undressed. I looked at myself in the mirror again, and barely recognized anything, I was so thin, not even my face looked the way it had. My cheeks weren't sucked in or anything, but I could seethe ridges of my ribs through my skin, not by much, but I could. I took the towel and placed it on the side of the bathtub. I turned on the water, tested the temperature, and plugged the drain. I waited awhile, wanting the tub to be full, and decided to take some bath salts out of the closet. I knew they weren't mine, but I had to just try a few. I put a handful in the bath tub and soon noticed that it began to smell like lavender.

The smells relaxed me a little, and I took small bottle of shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel out of the closet, grabbing a wash cloth from above the tub and placed it on the side. I looked at the little bottles and laughed a little to myself, it felt like I was staying at some grand hotel, that provided the small little sample bottles as a complimentary gift. I turned off the water and stepped in. The warm water was welcomed as I sat down on the little built in seat of the tub, I rested my head back and my thoughts wondered into dreams.


	6. Johnny and Annabel's Angel

I laid back onto the bed in my room and sighed, wondering what in the hell made me run off from Mel, after a car accident_._ I smacked myself on the forehead and knew there would be hell to pay, I was surprised she didn't call me yet, she'll be furious. Why the hell did I put up with her crap anyways? I didn't really like her, and I know it wasn't the money. I always thought it was because she was pretty, and her parents held half the investments into my parents' company. Was that it, to keep investments? If mom knew, she'd be disappointed. I knew my parents didn't really care about the money, though I felt horrible for even thinking about leaving Mel, because it was possible that my parents cold lose all the money they worked so hard for. My thoughts soon traveled to the woman in the room next to me. I had heard the water going, and when it stopped, I assumed she was using the bath tub. I wonder how old she is, where she came from. She had finished college at Yale, the same day I had, she was even the girl I sat next to. Was this all coincidence, or somehow a guided situation? Either way, I was dead when Mel found out. There I go again, I hate staying near Mel, she's so closed minded, she has no ideals, and wastes her parent's money on trivial things. She doesn't have a job, and doesn't plan on having one either.

Did Annie have a job? She has an amazing talent, but did she use it? I wonder why she was sent out into the streets, I didn't see any trace of drug or alcohol abuse with her. I smacked myself on the forehead, harder than intended. Stupid! You could have brought a drug-addicted bum into your house, what if she steals something? I sighed and calmed down, she didn't seem like that, but she did look lost, I wonder what happened that made her run out that day. Was that ambulance for her? I got up, kicked my shoes off, and walked downstairs into the living room. The minutes I sat down, I looked into the kitchen, and decided to get a drink, my head hurt from the collision.

I popped a painkiller into my mouth and chased it down with some water, thinking about the girl upstairs again as I sat down on the couch. I laid back and eventually fell asleep, waiting for her to come down.

I don't think I dreamed, and if I did, I didn't remember it, but I do remember there being a ring in my head every now and then. I finally woke up to the ringing of my cell phone in my pocket. I looked at it, and the caller ID said it was Melissa. I groaned and sat up, taking the phone to my ear clicking the little green button.

"Hello?"

"Why the hell did you leave!"

"Mel, look, I-"

"No, you "look", mister! I had to call insurance, I had to call the cops, and I had to call Poppa to come get me when it was all done!"

"I don't think a little phone dialing ever killed you, Mel."

"A little phone dialing? What's your problem? The man that hit us told me that you ran off right after you got out. Johnny, what the hell?"

"I don't know Mel, I haven't really been in the right state of mind." I sighed, and heard footsteps, so I looked up and saw the most beautiful woman on the planet. I instantly forgot Mel, hung up on her, and stood up, watching Annie walk down the stairs. She looked stunning, she wore a dark green ruffled skirt, cream colored top, and her hair looked beautiful, soft, and reached her shoulders. She shined with a soft tan to her skin, a light blush on her cheek, and breath taking eyes. She looked renewed, she no longer looked tired or depressed. I had no idea what to say, and I had no idea what to do next. Should I ask her to stay? I wanted her to stay, with me. I almost asked, but something told me to slow down, and just see how the day plays out. It was almost seven, and I knew it would be a perfect time to ask her to dinner. I smiled and was soon blessed with a smile from her in return, but not a shy smile, a real one, a beautiful one.

"You look better, do you feel better?" I felt lame, I wanted to say she looked gorgeous, that she looked like a goddess. She nodded, a little more animated than it had been before. I couldn't help but smile again.

"You feeling hungry, Annie?" She got down to the bottom step and was eye level with me.

"Actually, I am. Why?" She looked curious, and slightly confused.

"Why else? I want to take you out to dinner. Would you like to?" She looked down for a second, thinking. I don't think she noticed it, but she bit her lip before she answered, and for some reason, I felt a burning in the pit of my stomach. She looked back up at me and smiled.

"Am I dressed well enough?" She looked unsure as she placed her hand on the skirt, and the gold chain glistened.

"Of course you are." I smiled and held my hand out to her, trying to be the perfect gentleman.

We got into the garage, and I could have sworn she gasped. I had three cars in the garage, one of them being Mel's. One car, the Cadillac, was a sparkling silver, and the other, the Mustang, was a shining black. I suppose my cars would say a lot about me, people assumed I was one of those car-lovers, especially of muscle cars; but this really wasn't true, I just liked pretty good-looking things. Mel's car was a deep purple Mini Cooper, though I liked Mini Coopers, for some reason, I didn't like Mel's. I looked over the cars and decided to take the Mustang, I grabbed the keys from the key rack behind us and guided Annie over to the passenger side, opening the door for her. She sat down, being careful of her skirt when I closed the door. I got into the car, opened the garage door, and started the car.

I know that this is typical, but the masculine sound of the engine sort of went to my head, made me feel overly proud, almost boasting. I looked at the steering wheel as I put the car into reverse and saw the ring Mel had given me just shortly after our engagement was announced. I looked over at Annabel, and for some reason I can never account for, I took the ring off, and stuffed it into my pant pocket. I backed out, closed the garage, and headed down the long way of Parry Lane.

The car ride was initially silent, and I decided to put music on, unsure of what else to do, I wanted to save whatever beautiful things she had to tell me for the restaurant. I flipped in a CD, unsure of what was on it, turned up the volume a little, and was pleasantly surprised when I realized it was a compilation a friend of mine had made for me in college, when I first got the Cadillac from my parents. The first song to play was Corey Hart's _Sunglasses at Night_, one of my particular favorites from the eighties. As we made our way to The Castel, I noticed that Annie was tapping her hand, and I think her foot, to the music. I didn't know she liked it, and if she didn't, she hid it well. Another song had just started as I put the car in park, and before the lyrics began, I shut off the car and got out.

Annie had helped herself out and closed the door, seeming self conscious as she looked at The Castel from the parking lot. The outside was glittering with lights, across the outside dining patio and to the entrance was outlined with light stands. I hadn't gone to this placed since before I dated Mel, Mel never wanted to go when we went out. I gently took Annie's arm and we walked through the entrance. Most times, it was required to have a reservation, but my family typically had an open table left for us, we had been loyal customers for years, and were close to the family that owned the restaurant. After waiting in a line for a time, we reached the counter where an elderly woman was taking calls and documenting names.

"Name?"

"Johnson Vega." The woman looked up at me, squinting, then her eyes opened wide and she smiled.

"Johnny? You've sure grown since the last time I saw you! You know, your parents were just here the other night, great couple they are." She eyed Annabel for a moment, and then looked back at me. "You sure know how to catch 'em, Johnny!." The elderly woman took two menus into her hands as I smiled, despite the fact that Annie wasn't mine. "Alright, follow me you two." She lead the way to a semi-secluded table and placed the menus down. I pulled out a chair for Annie and when she sat, scooched her chair up the table.

"Thanks Nora, I was hoping you'd remember me."

"Remember you? I practically fed your way to adulthood, your parents took you here so dang much." The old woman grinned. "Anything you two wanna drink, in particular? Any wine or beer?" I noticed Annie was spacing out, and wanted to get to talk to her as soon as I could, I felt I couldn't wait.

"Merlot for two, Nora. Thank you."

"Of course Johnny." She patted my back gently, and made her way into the kitchen, disappearing behind the doors.


	7. A Good Mistake

I had never been treated to dinner by anyone but my Johnny, and that was only twice. It was a beautiful place, and it was nice being a little secluded from the rest of the people. I noticed the elderly woman walk off into a kitchen, and looked to Johnny, he smiled.

"I hope you like merlot, Annie. I didn't know what you liked to drink, but I can get you something different, if you'd like." I blinked, unsure of what merlot was and shook my head.

"I've never tried merlot, so I guess I can give it a try." I took a nervous drink of water from the glass that had been laid out before we arrived, unsure of what to ask, even though I wanted to talk to him about anything. I was drawn to this new Johnny, I didn't know how to describe how his smiles made me feel, but I liked it nonetheless. Johnny looked a little impatient, but I wasn't sure if I was reading his body language right or not. I was about to ask him if he was alright, but he spoke before I could.

"I don't know much about you, Annie. All I know is that you've graduated from Yale with a masters, you're extraordinarily talented with a pencil and paper, and I sat next to you at the graduation ceremony, but you ran out before it could end. If you don't mind me wanting to know, could you tell me a little about yourself?"

I pondered for a few moments, taking note that the woman from before had placed a glass filled with a red liquid in front of both me and Johnny. When the woman walked away, I decided to take a curious sip of the new drink. I took the glass and smelled it, it smelled pungent but a little sweet at the same time, so I took a drink, a larger one than I had intended. I closed my eyes for a moment, the taste was dry and it made me think of drinking a funny tasting cup of dirt, without the rocks. I looked up at Johnny and decided to begin with my earliest memory; The day my father died. After that, I couldn't stop talking about my life, and My Johnny. I told him about the day I broke my arm, about Vicky, about Mom, about my high school years, and finally, about my Johnny. I wouldn't have normally said so much but for some reason, I couldn't help it, it was like the words continued in a long line from my mouth to his ears, and he was sad when I had been sad, he was happy when I had been happy, and he was horrified when I had been, as I told my story, every emotion that I had felt at any highpoint in my life, was displayed by this new Johnny, the Johnny that made me feel a good kind of strange.

I think I had about two full glasses of the red liquid, Johnny said it was wine, and when I finished my story about how I had gotten onto the streets, he shook his head, in wonder. I couldn't exactly see straight, and it felt like an internal fight to keep my eyes open, even though I was completely awake. He told me about his young life, he hadn't always been rich, his parents struck lucky in a stock market investment and made a business to keep their new found wealth from being taxed to high heaven.

His parents sounded like good people, hard working, and understand of hard times. I met his father, and he was a big man, not fat, but rather built and had the eyes you'd find on any good parent, ones that held nothing but love. Johnny also told me of his love life, it wasn't anything spectacular, or at least to the many I had read about. He told me about the time he gave himself completely to one woman, and she tore away from him. He had said that after that, he felt the same about women, until he had met me. I felt my self blush hotly and smile.

Then Johnny told me about his college years, that they were nothing special, he mostly spent his free time reading in his dorm. He then told me about how he had met Mel. I think he too, had had two glasses, or maybe more, of the wine, but I don't think it was affecting him the same way. He talked on and on about how confused he made himself, he professed he didn't love Mel, and everything he did, he believed he did because he thought he was expected to marry a rich girl. He said it felt like a social custom, that once rich, you had to insure you stayed rich, but he hated it and he hated Mel.

To me, Mel sounded annoying, crabby, and controlling. I suddenly remember that she was the woman that had thrown money at me on the street, just earlier today. It was so strange to think that this morning, I woke up on the streets, with no one, and now, I'm at dinner with a gorgeous, wonderful man. I think the more wine I had, the more Johnny was wonderful, he was funny, and when I laughed, he would smile brightly, and it almost felt like my heart melted. I was happy again, and this Johnny had given me that. I wasn't sure what time it was when we finally left, but I remember having a bit of a struggle walking straight. I was glad Johnny didn't notice, or at least appeared not to.

I barely remember the car ride home, but I remember Johnny commenting about how I was acting, he said I was a bit buzzed and laughed as he said so. When we got into the house, I remember latching onto his arm, holding onto him, mainly because I felt kind of… cuddly. To think of any of the things I remembered about that night, it would be the kiss that started a fiasco in my heart. I asked him to help me to the bedroom, unsure of where it was, and I don't know what it was about me, but he looked at me with such a strong desire in his eyes. Maybe it was the wine in his system, maybe it wasn't, but when he held me tightly and put his lips to mine, I felt like putty in his hands.

He could have shaped me any way he liked, any way he wanted. My back was suddenly against a wall and he was kissing my neck, and I found myself burning inside, the good kind of burn. His hands wondered around, tickling my back, cupping a breast, or handling my behind. It felt like a tension was building between us, a type of tension that someone was attracted to, and I felt dizzy, a sweet kind of dizzy. When I realized where it was going, I slowed him down and looked him in the eyes.

"I… Haven't done this before, Johnny…" He looked at me and nodded, his eyes half closed and his lips grazing over mine, and I felt my heart beat quicken when he suddenly picked me up, one arm supporting my legs, the other my back. He surprised me when he carried me up a flight of stairs, across the hall, and into a bedroom. It didn't look like the one I was in before, but I wasn't sure of myself anyways. Johnny laid me down across the bed, climbing onto it, placing himself over me and kissed me. The kiss had a sort of urgency that I responded to, and in an instant, my body burned for him.

Before I could realize anything else, I was completely stripped of clothing, as was he, and I sort of remembered helping him with it. We were like that, kissing, his hands wondering, touching every place that either made me gasp, or shiver. He placed himself in-between my legs, broke our kiss and looked at me. We were both sort of breathless, he took a moment to catch his breath, and whispered.

"Are you ready, Annabel..?" He looked at me, with a brand of love and caring I had never seen before in someone's eyes. I nodded, holding onto his shoulders, finding my self biting my bottom lip. He took a moment, and slowly found his entrance. He was slow, and careful, pushing himself into me completely. I shuddered a slight gasp and gripped at his shoulders, the burn raging through me as he did so. He kissed me hard, but it wasn't unpleasant, I returned his kiss as he began to pull out, and thrust himself back into me. Slowly at first, then faster and harder. I whimpered little moans into the kiss, and as I did, he responded by making his thrusts even harder. I broke the kiss, gasping and panting, his body was pressed against mine, and the room felt so hot. He kissed along my jaw line, down to my neck, and it made me shiver every time he nibbled at my skin. I remember looking at the ceiling, but never acknowledging its existence, I was in heaven, and what I felt was bliss.

It wasn't long before I felt a pressure build up inside myself, a feeling that needed to be let out. I gripped at his back a little harder than I had his shoulders, and his response to it was thrusting up once more, harder than ever, and my body jolted when he had. I shuddered a louder moan and gasped lightly, my body tensing, feeling as if I wanted to curl my toes, the tension within me suddenly letting out. At the same time, I began to feel another pressure, it was filling, and satisfying. My climax lasted a little longer, and finally, I felt spent. Johnny collapsed on top of me gently, and it was a weight I didn't want to move away. I took time to catch my breath, and when I could finally breath at a normal rate, Johnny picked himself up, and moved himself to my side. He was still breathing a little faster than normal when he took his arm around me and held me to him. I smiled as I dozed off, I heard his breathing slow and then, I was asleep.

I woke that morning, my body sore and my head aching, though only a little. I sat up under the sheets, the bright light of morning being a little disorientating.

"Good morning, Gorgeous" I looked over and saw Johnny still next to me, even though the night before was just a blur at that point, I still knew what happened. He smiled brightly and I held my hand to my head. "Got a headache, Annie? The wine got to you pretty hard last night." He sat up next to me, and leaned me onto him. I smiled as I closed my eyes, rubbing the sides of my head. Johnny soon put his hands where mine were, running his hands through my hair and gently massaging the sides of my head. I sighed and smiled again. When my headache dulled down a bit, he laid back a little, I sat up, but he soon rested my head against his chest. I had no complaints whatsoever, I closed my eyes and held my hand in his, tracing the lines upon his palm with my fingertips. He was smiling, I didn't have to see it, but I knew he was. I suddenly realized that there had been music on since I woke up, and began tapping my fingers against Johnny's palm with the music, and we both laughed. I looked up at him, holding his hand, a little confused about the night before.

"Johnny, about last night…" He made a quiet "shh" noise and smiled.

"We don't need to worry about it right now, alright?" He kissed my forehead gently, and I felt my face lightly burn as a blush colored my cheeks. I soon came to a full realization of what we did the night before, but I really didn't care. Call me a hopeless romantic, but I was already falling in love.

Suddenly, Johnny's cell phone rang on the floor, where his pants had been thrown. He didn't move to get it, and I looked at him.

"Shouldn't you get that?" I blinked, unsure of why he would avoid a phone call. He nodded, grunting his displeasure at the idea as he got up, picking up his phone and answering it as he put his white boxer briefs on quickly.


	8. Mel

"Hello?"

"I tried calling you last night, are you okay?" I sighed, thinking it had been Mel.

"Yea, mom, I'm fine."

"So what's with this homeless girl business? Your pops told me you had gotten into an accident, and then asked him to pick you up from the bookstore, with a girl that he said wasn't Mel." She paused. "Johnny, was that a, you know…" She whispered. "w-h-o-r-e..?" My mouth dropped, completely caught off guard by her assumption.

"No ma, last time I checked, a homeless girl from right next to a Barnes & Nobles didn't do that."

"Oh, that's good. But what about Mel, are you going to let her know? You two _are_ going to be married, after all. You gotta start making decisions together. She may not like the fact that you have another woman in the house."

"Oh, she can just go screech about it to her poppa if she doesn't like it." I heard her sigh, and suddenly felt upset.

"I knew the minute I saw her, that she wasn't the right girl for you. Look Johnny, I love you, and I only want what's best for you. Don't worry about the investments, Ethan and I can deal with that. If you don't love her, don't marry her, you'll only end up hating yourself for it later.." I sighed and nodded, even though she couldn't see it.

"I know ma, I know. I'm just…" I looked at Annabel, who was looking at me, a little worried. "…A little confused right now." I paused. "Look, ma, I'll call you back later today, alright?"

"Oh, alright Johnny. Love you."

"Love you too, ma." I hung up the phone a sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed next to Annabel, my hand at my head. I felt frustrated, but when Annabel placed a comforting hand at my back, I knew every thing would be alright, in the end. I turned myself to face her and she smiled reassuringly. I smiled back as she reached for me, I fell into her arms and rested against her chest, sighing to myself as she placed a gentle hand on my head, and ran her fingers through my hair. I closed my eyes and listened to her breathing, it was slow and calm, and beneath her breath, I could hear her heart. I didn't know exactly what to do about my situation, other than to break off the engagement with Mel, but how? I sighed and wrapped my arms around Annabel… My Annabel… She was mine now, wasn't she? I looked up at her and she smiled, she was beautiful, her hair tossed about, eyes glittering, and a gorgeous smile. I almost wanted her then, but I held myself back and sat up beside her.

"Annabel… I think we may have to talk about what happened last night." I looked her in the eyes, she nodded and faced me.

"Alright, Johnny." She said as she pulled the sheets around her beautiful body and hugged her knees. I sighed and looked at her, remembering the fact that I had had at least four glasses of wine that night, and though apparently I had more alcoholic stamina than she did, I could not have thought straight for the life of me last night.

"I want to know what last night meant to you, and I know we were both pretty buzzed last night, but I know you remember it."

"That's true, I do remember it." She looked at me nervously. "You want to know exactly what I think about it, right?" I nodded, and she bit her lip for a second, then let it go. "Please remember that I have never once done that before last night, and I haven't, not even to this day, ever been in a romantic relationship." She laughed at herself, almost mockingly. "I just read about them in romance novels." I laughed lightly, but not at her, at the fact that before Mel, I hadn't been in a relationship before, but, I had slept with a woman before Mel, only one, but it wasn't only once. I remembered, barely from the slur that had been last night, that I had told Annabel so. I snapped from my thoughts and looked at her again. "I know that, even though you watched me when I was homeless, and I may very well be homeless still, and I watched you, too…" I wanted to interject, but decided not to. "I think… That I may be falling in love with you, Johnny." She looked at me with nervous eyes, like she had said something terrible. I couldn't help but smile, because, even though I had never confessed so out loud, I told myself I had loved her from the moment I saw her on the streets. I always wondered if my love grew from a guilt, I had felt guilty for not helping from the start. I shook the thought away, Knowing, within myself that I loved her, and the fact that she could be falling for me, so soon, made my heart go wild. I placed my hand gently to her cheek, the skin of her face so soft.

"I think I may be falling for you, as well, Annabel." She smiled widely, her fears relieved. I decided not to tell I loved her, I wasn't sure I was even ready to announce my love for her to the world. I wanted to take this carefully, from this point on. Last night was a good mistake, but I didn't want to end up hurting her, or myself getting hurt, in the end. We laid that way for while, but she decided to go take a shower. So I sat on the bed for a few minutes, and wondered what I should do. Of course, I wanted Annabel to stay at my home, she could stay in the guest room. I wondered for a moment, should she try and get a job? With her talents, it should be easy enough, does she have a bank account? She told me of her young life, but she never told me a whole about her life as an adult. I don't think she even told me how old she was, or where she was from, before Yale, was she always here? I sighed and got dressed, going downstairs to make something to eat for the both of us. I was disappointed when I saw that I didn't have much in the fridge, I had to go shopping for more soon. Right when I thought about it, it suddenly occurred to me that Annabel had nothing of her own. I picked up the phone and dialed the number of the only woman I know who would help with that.

"Hello?"

"Hey ma, I just wanted to know, would you like to take someone shopping?" I smiled, because I knew that if anyone wanted to go shopping at any time of any day, it would be my mother. She had a flair for fashion and design, I got my creativity from her, and I knew she couldn't resist. Besides, the trip would give her a chance to get to know Annabel, and maybe why I took her in in the first place.

"Is that even a real question, boy?" I heard her laugh, "Of course I would, with who? And, are you paying for the lady?"

"Of course I am, ma. It's Annabel, the girl I took from the streets, I want to help her back on her feet, but first, she needs some clothes to call her own." I heard her grab her purse and keys.

"I couldn't wait to meet this girl anyways, Johnny. I'll be there in an hour, I have a few things to do first."

"Alright ma, and thank you."

"Of course Johnny." I heard the phone call end and hung up the phone, sighing in a little relief.

"Well, Johnny, that's one thing out of the way.."

"What's one thing out of the way?" I turned my head quickly and looked at Annabel, her hair was damp, reaching just past her shoulders, and she wore Mel's pin-strip shorts and her black tank top that reached just above the end of them. The tank top was typically worn as a short dress on Mel, because of her height, but on the taller Annabel, it was just a long top. I smiled and turned myself in her direction slightly.

"Well, I pulled in a favor from my Ma, she said she'd take you shopping in an hour, if you'd like."

"Shopping for what?"

"Clothes, for one, and maybe some other things you may want."

"Oh, that's not necessary, I'm just fine in Mel's clothes." I shook my head, walking to her and placing my hands onto her petite shoulders.

"Annabel, I'm not going to be staying with Mel, and I want you to stay here, in my home. You can stay in the guest room until you get onto your feet, and I plan on helping you on your way, anyway I can." She smiled, somehow knowing she wouldn't win the fight, but paused for a moment and held her index finger up.

"On one condition, Johnny." I was slightly surprised, but nodded. "That you agree to the fact that, once I get a job, I will pay you back every cent I spend of your money." She looked up at me with serious eyes, I sighed, as I had a feeling she would not give up the idea right now.

"Alright, Annabel." I paused for a moment, and decided I could trust her completely. "Annabel, before you go, I will give you my card, and you can spend as much as you want, to get what you need. Perfumes, jewelry, clothes, shampoo, conditioners, cosmetics, anything you would like. I want you to have anything you cold possibly want to make sure you get back on your feet." She nodded, seeming a little overwhelmed, and looked as though she would object, but then she paused, looking up at me, her beautiful emerald eyes looking into mine. I felt entranced, almost lost, and when she spoke, I was almost startled.

"Is there one thing we can do? We don't have to do it today, but I'd like to get my car, soon. My brother had it completely paid off, so it was solely ours. It's nothing like your cars, but it would be something of my own, at best." I wondered if she had had anything in her adult life she could fall back to, and now I knew. I nodded and laughed, though I didn't know why.

"Of course we can Annabel, how about after your shopping trip? We'll stop by and get it, it'll be a good thing, you know. It'll help you start out." She nodded, and I noticed, that as her hair dried, it began to wave lightly, and it shined beautifully. I shook my head, in wonder, and sighed to myself, knowing that I could not let myself be taken so easily, I still had Mel to worry about. I felt cold, I knew what I was doing to her was wrong, but knowing Mel, it was all for the money to begin with.

When Annabel left with my mother, they seemed to like each other right off the bat, but my mother was a typically friendly person, so it was understandable. I stayed in the house for a time, and knowing my mother she wouldn't be back until it was late. I decided to go talk to Mel, I needed to talk to her, and though it was going to be hard, it would be worse if she didn't have any warning. I took out my phone, and my heart beat quickly, with guilt. I dialed her number, sighed and held it to my ear, it rang only once.

"Johnny, why the hell did you hang up on me yesterday?" I shook my head and almost wanted to smack my forehead.

"I don't know, I'm sorry. Look, Mel?"

"What" Her voice was high pitched, but her immediate worry was heard through.

"We need to talk, where are you?"

"On the way to the house. Johnny, is something wrong?" My heart leapt, she as on her way here. I sighed in relief, soon after, glad that she hadn't come here much sooner.

"Not exactly, how long until you are here?" There was a knock at the door, I didn't make any connection so I walked over to the door and opened it. It was Mel. I hung up the phone as she walked in. She stood barely at five foot, blond, and very, very thin. Needless to say, when she spoke, she brought to mind the picture of a very feminine mouse. Her hair was long, but the color always reminded me of hay, kind of a dull blond. I closed the door after she walked in, then putting my phone into my pocket.

"So hunny bunny, what's the big worry?" She said, or more like squeaked, with a smile. I shook my head and sat down, and her optimistic gaze settled into a pessimistic worry. She sat down across from me, and I wished for a moment that she couldn't see me. I looked into her eyes, no idea how to explain myself, or how to start a conversation like this.

"Melissa, I… I've been given a little time to think, and I've been feeling this way for awhile, but I didn't know what to make of it." I stopped, trying to think of a decent way to say what I needed, looking away from her. "I think we take some time to ourselves, stop the engagement, taking a god sized step back. I think we took this too fast, and I know I was the one that proposed to you, but I'm not even sure I feel the same for you the way you feel for me." She caught me off guard when she laughed, I looked at her with almost disbelief. She looked at me, holding her hand over her mouth as she giggled.

"I'm sorry, Johnny, its just that, that was what I was coming over for. When you ran off yesterday, I thought you might, for some reason, have ran to that girl you stared at while I was in the bookstore." my eyes were less wide, but I felt particularly uncomfortable that she had noticed. She noticed, and eyed me. "I've known that you've watched her, its why you left so often these past few months. You changed, the more you did. You liked me less and less, and I noticed. When you stopped for a time, I began to feel we were too distant." I blinked, almost unbelieving. A smile then crossed my face, and then before I could speak, she continued. "I agree with you, but I think we should just go our separate ways, completely. Keep or relation to family business." She winked, placing her hand on mine, then stood up, taking out her car keys.

"I think you're right, and I hope the business between our family stays strong." I smiled, relieved greatly.

"Of course it will, we need you just as much as you need us." He gave me a light hug with her one arm as she looked around the house, then back at me. "Well, I ought to be going now. If you find anything of mine, just give me a cal and I'll pick it up."

"Are you taking the mini?"

"Yah, I am. I had poppa take me here so I could get the car and take it home." She walked to the garage, looking back at me. "Bye, Johnny."

"Bye Mel." I smiled and waved as she disappeared into the garage, feeling greatly relieved when I heard the garage open and the car start. I stood up, grabbed my car keys, and went upstairs, grabbing the thin jacket that hung from the edge of my bed, then going back downstairs as I put it on. I went into the garage, immediately noting that Mel had left the garage door open after she left. I hopped into my Mustang and started the car. I looked into the rear view mirror, almost expecting Annabel to come back just as I left, and I waited, staring. I shook myself out of it and put the car into the reverse, backing out of the garage, then the driveway, onto the street, putting the car into drive and going down Parry Lane.


End file.
